Aurora Silva, Association “Arcas de Covelinhas” and UMAR Viseu – Covelinhas,S. Pedro do Sul, Viseu

Aurora Silva has spent her entire life in the village of Covelinhas, nestled between the São Macário and Montemuro mountains in the Lafões region. Covelinhas is part of the parish of São Martinho das Moitas in the municipality of São Pedro do Sul, within the district of Viseu.

In August 2017, Aurora and her fellow villagers founded the Association Arcas de Covelinhas. Together with other women, Aurora engages in traditional activities tied to the “cycle of wool,” aiming to educate others, make occasional sales, and, most importantly, ensure that these cultural traditions endure.

Aurora also participates in community and rural women’s projects organized by Association Fragas Aveloso, a development organization from a nearby village focusing on environmental and feminist causes, and UMAR Viseu, a local branch of a national feminist association. Through these projects, rural women from the districts of Viseu and Guarda came together to draft a Manifesto defending rural women’s rights. The manifesto was approved on October 15, 2023, International Rural Women’s Day, and publicly presented, along with their demands, one year later.

“I’ve always been in agriculture, working the land,” says Aurora, even during periods of wage labor outside her village. She primarily grows food for her family, noting that for them, “the farmers’ market is my mountains, my home.” Any surplus is shared with neighbors, rarely sold. She tends a vegetable garden and cares for animals, though less so now due to health issues. For Aurora, “working the land has always been my life.”

Her farming methods follow the ways of her mother: using her own seeds (buying only when necessary) and fertilizing with animal manure. The biggest change has been the introduction of tractors, which now handle plowing and spreading manure, replacing labor-intensive practices. Chemicals are used sparingly and only when absolutely needed.

Aurora also manages household chores, balancing them with farm work. She and her husband share farming responsibilities: he handles tougher tasks like plowing, while she tends the vegetable garden and does lighter work like hoeing, watering, and harvesting. Now retired, they’ve scaled back their farming, as they no longer wish to be “slaves to work.”

Reflecting on the past, Aurora recalls that women were once “very much slaves” to both housework and farm labor. They carried heavy loads of hay and corn on their heads, walked long distances to work on farms, and helped neighbors with unpaid labor such as clearing land, manuring, and harvesting crops like corn and potatoes. Even as a child, Aurora helped her mother by preparing food and delivering it to the fields—an hour’s walk away. Women worked tirelessly from morning to night, only to return home to care for animals and complete additional chores traditionally assigned to them. Today, she notes, tractors have eased much of this burden.

In the late 1970s, Aurora worked in the resin sector, a job she enjoyed despite the disparity in pay: men earned more than women for less physically demanding work.

Covelinhas also has a rich tradition of wool craftsmanship, led by women. Socks and other garments were once made by hand at night by the fire. Though such practices have faded, Aurora’s association is reviving them, preserving knowledge of the wool cycle and the work songs women sang while laboring in the fields. “The older women were always singing,” she fondly recalls.

Aurora enjoys participating in activities hosted by UMAR Viseu, which she describes as opportunities to learn, broaden her horizons, and connect with others. Having rarely left her village, these experiences offer her a chance to see beyond her immediate world.

Regarding public policies, Aurora feels that village infrastructure is lacking. With limited transport options and no ability to drive, she depends entirely on her husband for mobility, reducing her autonomy. Access to healthcare is also a challenge: the health center is far away, and even when they make the trip, appointments are often unavailable. Additionally, Aurora sees a pressing need for measures to retain young people in the village, which is increasingly populated by older residents.